Marine debris is trash, fishing gear, and other lost or discarded items that end up in the ocean and on the shores. COASTSWEEP, the statewide beach cleanup sponsored by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), is part of Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup, where volunteers worldwide collect marine debris and record data to help identify its sources and develop education and policy initiatives to reduce it.
The information below gives an overview of the marine debris problem. For a full list of information on the COASTSWEEP website, see Overview and Index.
What Is Marine Debris?
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program website: “Marine debris is any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes. Anything human-made and solid can become marine debris once lost or littered in these aquatic environments.” Marine debris includes trash, fishing line and nets, shipping cargo or containers, and even materials found in sewage or industrial discharges, like tiny pieces of plastic known as microplastics. Microplastics come in many different forms, including the microbeads used in beauty products, small fragments from beverage containers and other plastics that break up in the environment, and the synthetic fibers that wash off clothing. These microplastics, which never fully decompose, are now found throughout the oceans and within the food and water (and even sea salt) that people consume. The NOAA National Ocean Service page, A Guide to Plastic in the Ocean, has additional details on microplastics and more.
Where Does Marine Debris Come From?
Marine debris comes from both the land and the sea. Trash can be carried to the ocean from land by water, wind, and people. For example, trash from uncovered or overflowing garbage cans can ride a gust of wind or be caught up in stormwater runoff and find its way to the sea. If not properly disposed of, items such as cigarette butts and food packaging can also enter waterways and shorelines where they remain a persistent source of plastic waste. At sea, trash becomes an immediate source of marine debris when accidentally or deliberately discharged from boats, fishing vessels, and large ships. See the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Trash Free Waters website for more.
What Is the Impact of Marine Debris?
The problems associated with marine debris extend well beyond aesthetics.
- Sea birds, seals, and other animals can be choked, starved, or poisoned when they mistake debris for food. A particular problem is when sea turtles die after swallowing clear plastic bags that they mistake for jellyfish. Animals can also become entangled in nets, bags, ropes, and other trash, often resulting in drowning, suffocation, loss of mobility, or starvation.
- Microplastics that are ingested or absorbed by marine organisms are also a possible threat to human health. Small plastics and their associated toxic chemicals can be passed along within the food chain, including to the fish and shellfish eaten by people.
- Beachgoers may injure themselves on items such as pieces of glass, wood, or metal while swimming or walking on the sand. Litter accumulating in waterways can also serve as a breeding ground for bacteria and spread disease.
- Marine debris poses a threat to navigation. Propellers can become jammed with fishing line, boats can be damaged by colliding with large pieces of debris, and plastic can clog cooling intakes.
- Trash can harm wildlife habitats, including salt marshes, eelgrass beds, deep water areas, and beaches. Debris can smother, shade, or crush plants, change the physical and chemical properties of sediments, and entangle and smother reefs—altering how wildlife use these areas for food, shelter, and reproduction.
- Non-native and potentially invasive species can invade new ecosystems by hitching a ride on marine debris objects that take a very long time to break down, allowing them to travel great distances. Once in a new ecosystem, invasive species have the potential to outcompete native species and alter habitats.
To learn more, see the NOAA National Ocean Service What are the impacts of marine debris? page.
How Can You Help Reduce Marine Debris?
There are many ways that you can help reduce marine debris:
- Participate in a COASTSWEEP Cleanup
- Don't litter
- Don't dump trash into storm drains
- Purchase products with little packaging and avoid single-use disposable products, such as food and beverage containers, bottles, and straws
- Recycle
- Ensure that your yard is trash-free
- Securely cover trash cans
- Carefully stow trash when boating
- Teach others about marine debris and encourage them to take action too
Where Can You Learn More?
- Trash Free Waters - This EPA website gives information on marine debris, its sources, and what is being done to address the problem.
- Marine Debris Program - The NOAA Marine Debris Program provides information on marine debris, funding opportunities to address the problem, art contests to raise awareness, and much, much more, including the Marine Debris Blog on marine debris issues and activities and the Discover Marine Debris page on the different types of marine debris, where it comes from, impacts, and much more.
- Fighting for Trash Free Seas - This Ocean Conservancy web page includes information on marine debris and the International Coastal Cleanup, along with links to news articles, reports, and sources of additional information.
- Marine Debris and Plastics Program - This website from the Center of Coastal Studies in Provincetown describes program activities, including beach cleanups and monitoring, at-sea cleanups, fishing gear retrieval, marine debris art, and student art projects.
- Stow It-Don’t Throw It - This youth-driven marine debris prevention effort recruits students and educators to share in marine debris prevention through education and outreach.
- Marine Debris as a Global Environmental Problem - The Global Environment Facility released this report on land-based sources and types of plastic debris.
- Algalita - This website provides information on marine debris and the work of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation to protect the marine environment through research and education on marine plastic pollution.
- Take Our Quiz: The Trash Most Likely to Litter a Beach - This New York Times article from June 26, 2018, discusses the most frequently found item on beaches around the world during the annual International Coastal Cleanup.
- Tiny But Deadly: Your Butt on Plastic - On this web page, EarthDay.org discusses how cigarette butts can have damaging effects on marine life, people, and communities through lingering toxins.
- Garbage Patches: How Gyres Take Our Trash Out to Sea - This NOAA Ocean Podcast dives into gyres— large systems of circulating ocean currents, how they circulate and accumulate plastics, and what we can do to help solve the problem.
- Fishing for Energy Reaches 4.5 Million Pound Milestone in Marine Debris Collection- This 2020 press release describes the recent success of the Fishing for Energy program in Wellfleet, a conservation partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, Covanta and Schnitzer Steel Industries, and members of Wellfleet’s fishing industry. With the installation of collection bins at strategic ports, derelict fishing gear including traps, lines, and nets, have been collected and recycled (or converted to energy) and kept out of the ocean.
- Stopping Single-Use Plastics - This page from Sailors for the Sea provides information on the problem, the solution, and ways to take action to reduce the use of single-use plastics, such as bottles and plastic packaging, and work towards restoring ocean health.